


well, you never knew your luck

by yosgay



Category: Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona Series
Genre: Festivals, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-09-12 06:27:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9059500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yosgay/pseuds/yosgay
Summary: “I try to win one every year, but I’m no good at these games,” Souji said sheepishly, hunching his shoulders a little bit into his scarf and smiling, but looking genuinely disappointed.Minato took a breath, suddenly determined to win Souji a goldfish by the end of the night.





	

**Author's Note:**

> kingyo-sukai is a common japanese festival game, where people use a paper scooper called a poi to catch goldfish. the trick to the game is care and speed, as the poi can tear easily. 
> 
> the more u know
> 
>  
> 
> (the title is from a quote by terry pratchett)

The way the festival lights illuminated Naganaki Shrine and cast flowery patterns on the old stone walls made it look like a completely different place. 

Minato trailed a few beats behind his classmates, catching his breath from the rowdiness of the group and taking in the soft ambience. He tried to appreciate getting out of the dorm for a change that had nothing to do with completing missions and leading battles, and everyone seemed like they were in a good mood. He tried his best to match their energy in his own way. 

He watched Akihiko slap Souji on the back with Koromaru at their heals, excitedly describing one of his recent boxing practices and inviting him along to the next one if he ever had time after school. Yukari and Mitsuru were quick to remind them of his commitment to both student council and archery club, and joked good-naturedly about how he was giving Minato’s own schedule a run for its money. Minato rolled his eyes and turned his attention to a stand full of hanafuda cards with intricate designs carved into the wood, and ran his fingers along some of the deeper cuts. 

Minato was always surprised to see how Souji fit into the group seamlessly since he joined SEES, a patient and involved part of each small circle. Minato was grateful that Hamuko had invited him, just to take some attention off of him for once. And, maybe, a little bit because -

“It looks so different, doesn’t it?” Minato started at Souji’s sudden presence at his side, and he chuckled at his jumpiness. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” he rubbed his neck sheepishly. “But they did do a nice job with the decorations though, right? Should be fun.”

“Y-yeah,” Minato stuttered a little, letting his bangs hide his face. Real smooth. Souji smiled at him from the corner of his eye, and they walked along the outskirts of the shrine together quietly. Minato opened his mouth and closed it about a dozen times, trying to find something to talk about just to give Souji a reason to keep walking with him. He didn’t seem to mind the silence, but it was killing Minato. He was about ten seconds from saying some stupid shit about the weather, but all of the sudden Souji let out an uncharacteristically excitable gasp and ran over to one of the stalls that had a goldfish catching game. Minato licked his lips and willed his blush away, laughing a little through his nose, and followed behind him.

“Minato,” Souji said wondrously, leaning over the table with stars in his eyes like Minato had never seen from him. “Look at them! They’re so cute…” He wrapped his headphones cord around his fingers and stared at the back of Souji’s head, biting his lip against making a _really_ lame retort to that. “I try to win one every year, but I’m no good at these games,” he said sheepishly, hunching his shoulders a little bit into his scarf and smiling, but looking genuinely disappointed.

Minato took a breath, suddenly determined to win Souji a goldfish by the end of the night. He was shit at these games too, but if he could hardly even hold a conversation with the guy, then this was his best chance.

“Well, I could -“ Minato started to say, but it was drowned out by Shinjiro and Akihiko bickering loudly a few stalls over about the proper way to shoot toy guns. Souji chuckled when they heard Aigis step in and ask Hamuko if she should help “break them up,” and then they were both suppressing their quiet laughter at the two’s sincerest apologies. 

“I guess we should go make sure they don’t all kill each other,” Souji said, bumping Minato’s shoulder a little with his. Minato felt his arm tense up and he discreetly wiped his palms off on his pant legs.

“You go ahead,” he said, chewing his cheek and working through nerves to keep his voice even. “I’ll catch up.” 

Souji frowned a little, but then smiled and shrugged an “okay,” and turned to leave. When he was finally out of sight, Minato steeled himself and tried to remember how the hell to play these games. He hadn’t been to one of these events since he and his sister were young, and was already expecting it to take more than a few tries. He said a silent thank you to Elizabeth and Tartarus that this endeavor would at least be well-funded. 

He was never any good at Kingyo-sukai, even as a kid - always way too impatient and skittish whenever he saw a fish finally swimming towards the small paper net. The poi would always rip, and he’d have to start over. And, unsurprisingly, he was having the same problem as always. 

Frustrated, he handed over another few hundred yen, pushed his hair away from his eyes, and tried again. He was having trouble staying steady, thinking about all the reasons why Souji wouldn’t want the gift, or even if he did, maybe he still wouldn’t want to walk around the festival with him in spite of it. 

Each time a fish would swim up close enough to be scooped up, he would either scare it off or break the net. He could only hope this wasn’t a metaphor.

He tried to keep telling himself that this was a good idea, and that if nothing else, Souji was a nice guy. He had made a bee-line to the stall as soon as he’d seen it, and Minato could imagine a younger him trying, just like Minato had, to catch a goldfish and take it home, pouting from having no luck.

It was a little surprising to Minato that Souji would be bad at something like this when it seemed like patience was his middle name. It was kind of endearing, thinking about Souji concentrating hard on keeping the movement of his hands slow and measured, brow furrowing and calculating how long the poi has been in the water versus how quickly to move it before the thin paper would rip, reigning in the overeager impulse when the illusive fish got just close enough to finally fall right into the - _yes!_

The net surfaced with a tiny, speckled orange fish wiggling around on the wet paper, unscathed after way too many attempts, and he quickly transferred it into the waiting bowl of water with triumph. The attendant congratulated him nicely and tied his new gift up in a small plastic water bag, and he finally let his shoulders relax.

He smiled to himself, and was about to look around for Souji, when he saw the whole group of his friends walking towards him. He panicked and hid the bag behind his back, already mortified at the thought of explaining this whole thing in front of everyone, and tried to look casual as they greeted him.

“Ready to go?” Junpei said, coming right over and throwing an arm around his shoulders and somehow totally missing the awkward positioning of his arm. “I’m about done with watching Yuka-tan and Mitsuru-senpai make goo goo eyes at each oth- _hey!_ ” He flinched back from Minato as Yukari threw a half-eaten takoyaki skewer at him, narrowly missing his head. 

“Shut _up_ , Stupei,” she said through her teeth, blushing furiously. Mitsuru looked just the same, hair falling in front of her face to hide the worst of it. "Like you and Ryoji-kun are any better!" Junpei sputtered his well-deserved embarrassment and Hamuko and Fuuka giggled, pinkies hooked around each other's and proving that no one there was actually doing any better in the PDA department. Ken couldn't seem to hide his laughter either, looping Koromaru's leash around his wrist to walk them along to another festival stand. 

Minato blinked. 

“Wait, go?” he said quietly, and cursed under his breath when he checked the time. How long had he been at that stupid stand? He was crestfallen as he flipped his phone shut and stuffed it back into his pocket, tonguing the small cut forming on the inside of his cheek.

The festival was almost over. He felt like an idiot.

He tucked the bag gently into his jacket and nodded at Junpei, wrapping the headphone cords so tightly around his fingers that they turned white. Shinjiro cast him a curious glance and seemed like he was about to say something before being pulled away by Akihiko once again, making their way hand-in-hand towards a further row. He walked slowly behind the group, running his free hand along the splintering wood of the stands they passed. And as the rest of them all devolved into their own little groups going through the stalls once more for the night, Souji hung back with Minato once again. 

“So where were you all night?” he hedged, cocking his head and smiling softly in a way that made Minato hold his breath. “You said you’d catch up, and then you kind of disappeared.”

Minato looked at him for a moment, a little surprised that he’d even noticed his absence with everyone else crowding him the whole night. He hesitated, slow to admit that he’d accidentally spent over an hour trying to win him some random prize when the two of them had barely ever hung out apart from the group. It sounded like a nice gesture at first, but now it just seemed stupid and weird. If it was anything else, he might even throw it away and just make up an excuse. Of course, he _had_ to go for the pet.

He pursed his lips and took the bag out of his pocket. Fuck it, he might as well just hand it over.

“I uh,” he cleared his throat and tried again when the words came out a little raspy. “I got you this.” Without looking, he shoved it towards Souji and coughed loudly to cover the sound of his own heartbeat, staring down at their shoes as they walked. 

Souji made a confused noise but didn’t say anything right away, and Minato could just as easily have faded right into the ground, never to be seen again. That sounded fantastic, actually. Then at least he wouldn’t have to deal with the awkward fucking atmosphere that he created by being too eager. It’s not like he could just avoid Souji with him being a part of their team and living in the dorms, and now he’s just gonna think he’s some creep who tried way too hard to find a reason to talk to him, and what if it ends up interfering with their missions? And disappearing is actually starting to sound really fucking nice right now -

“Minato?”

He blinked himself out of his own spiral and stopped walking when he realized that Souji had as well, a few steps behind, and turned to face him. He expected to see that look on his face, the pitying look of someone who was about to nicely turn him down. But instead, those stars were back in his eyes, mouth working to find words and gaze flicking from Minato and back to the bag in his hands over and over.

“You…” he began, laughing dumbly and gesturing vaguely, “did you…? Well, you did, but, is that what… for me?” He started and ended a dozen questions after each other, the incredulous and genuine smile on his face heating up Minato’s cheeks. He stood awkwardly with his hands in his pockets, totally unsure of what to say or do, because this wasn’t at all the reaction he was expecting. 

“Did you… spend the whole festival trying to win this for me?” 

Minato chewed his lip and kept his gaze locked somewhere around Souji’s knees. He nodded.

In a second, Souji was next to him and smiling wider than he’d ever seen, or thought him capable of, and Minato probably could have died just knowing that it was directed at him. He curled and uncurled his hands at his sides as he looked up at him, feeling their height difference for the first time along with his slick palms, and he was about a thousand percent sure that Souji could hear his heart beating halfway out of his chest. Souji leaned in and quickly pecked his cheek, and Minato was even _more_ sure that it could have burned his lips with how hot his face felt.

Souji was blushing now too, looking at him shyly through those long eyelashes, and Minato’s fingers twitched, wishing he hadn’t left his camera at the dorm. He would have climbed to the top of Tartarus by himself just to be able to have a picture of that.

“Thank you very much,” Souji said, bowing slightly, and Minato snorted at the contrast of his formality. “But, next time, maybe we could try to win it together?” 

Minato took a shuddering breath, and met Souji’s eyes. “I would… really like that,” he said.

“Me too,” Souji said with smile that warmed Minato all the way through. Souji took his hand and threaded their fingers together, leading them past the final rows of the festival and down the stairs of Naganaki Shrine. And Minato was relieved to find that Souji’s hands were shaking just a little bit, and that his palms were just as sweaty as his were.

**Author's Note:**

> souji sweata
> 
> (i guess this is an au where everyone lives and nobody dies and souji just happens to live in iwatodai, idk, whatever, just roll with it)


End file.
